NAFTA has been good for all of North America

Treaty has benefited Mexican, Canadian and U.S. residents

By Eduardo Bravo

Updated 6:24 pm, Wednesday, November 14, 2012

As a Mexican national who has been doing business in Mexico and the U.S. since 1988, who launched a publishing business in 1992, who moved from Mexico to San Antonio in 2009, and who has continued doing business in both countries, I believe that North America is better off with NAFTA than without it.

The North American Free Trade Agreement united Canada, Mexico and the U.S. as a powerful trading bloc. The agreement established trade rules and regulations that provide a business-friendly environment so that the three nations can trade products and services more easily among each other by eliminating tariffs and trade barriers.

Since its implementation in the early '90s, NAFTA has stimulated economic growth and sustained the economies of the three-nation region. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in 2011 exports grew more than 45 percent and were strongest with the U.S. NAFTA partners, Canada and Mexico. U.S. trade with Mexico increased substantially in 2011, with exports to Mexico increasing by 21.6 percent between 2010 and 2011.

Despite economic turbulence, I have seen many business success stories unfold thanks to NAFTA. Corona, for example, is a Mexican beer that was introduced in the U.S. in 1981. After NAFTA was implemented, the trading process became easier and the brand's marketing efforts helped it become the No. 1 import beer in the U.S. The beer that originated in Mexico crossed borders when the brand and its parent company were acquired by Anheuser-Busch earlier this year. But beer isn't the only Mexican product that has benefited from NAFTA. In San Antonio's key grocery store chain, H.E.B, one can buy many products from my homeland because H.E.B. operates in Mexico and the U.S., thanks to NAFTA.

Additionally, NAFTA has made it easier to buy American products in Mexico. I can shop at H.E.B. and other stores in Mexico and buy Procter & Gamble and other American-made products that we could not buy in Mexico before NAFTA. Before NAFTA, the taxes imposed on American products in Mexico made them unaffordable. In fact, people called "contrabandistas" would buy American products, smuggle them into Mexico, and sell them to Mexicans at three times the American price. Thanks to NAFTA, the process of smuggling American products into Mexico is less common because NAFTA eliminated tariffs, making American-made products more competitively priced in Mexico.

Mexico is also the second largest destination for U.S. exports and the third largest source of imports; 6 million American jobs depend on trade with Mexico. And I have seen the business landscape in Mexico become Americanized. In most of Mexico's major cities, today one will see the familiar brands of American stores and restaurants that have grown due to expansion in Mexico. Familiar brands include McDonalds, Burger King, Applebee's and Walmart, to name a few.

Mary Kay is a testament to the beauty of NAFTA. In 2007, Mary Kay, one of the largest direct-selling skin care and color cosmetic companies in the world, opened a new headquarters and distribution center in the northern Mexico region. Mary Kay's $20 million investment in the two facilities reflects its commitment to the country. The new distribution center focuses on the needs of some 200,000 Mary Kay independent beauty consultants throughout Mexico. It is estimated that 75 million units will be shipped from the distribution center annually, increasing Mary Kay's business capacity by 50 percent.

Caterpillar also paved its way into Mexico and Canada, and is a huge supporter of NAFTA. The chairman and CEO attributes much of the company's economic success to the benefits of free trade, and says that it is an excellent case study of how American workers can compete and win in the international marketplace. Because the company exports billions of dollars from products made in U.S. factories, many of Catepillar's U.S. employees depend on international trade for their livelihoods. That is why the company is a strong advocate for international trade and NAFTA.

The company stories I mentioned are just a few examples, but there are hundreds more, and we, as Mexican nationals who are living in the U.S. and successfully operating businesses on an international level, are strong proponents for developing a NAFTA future that will generate smarter, more innovative ways to grow and sustain the economies of Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

Bravo is chairman of the board of the Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos in San Antonio.